Malcolm Turnbull said Tony Abbott was the best person to lead the Liberal Party as he “has the confidence of the party room”.
Appearing on the ABC’s 7.30 program, Mr Turnbull described the Prime Minister as a “very intelligent, courageous, brave man” who had the full support of the party room.
“To be the leader of a political party you only need one attribute and that is to have the confidence of the party room,” he said.
“There's 102 members of the party room and they are the ones that decide who will lead the party and the only attribute, you can have all the attributes in the world - perceived, real, unreal, imagined - the only attribute that matters is… whether the majority of the party room support you.”
‘We are all behind the leader, every single one of us’
Mr Turnbull was grilled further on leadership speculation by host Leigh Sales, who asked him if he lacked “the ticker to challenge”.
“My ticker is in very good shape,” he replied.
His comments came less than a month after a failed spill motion against Mr Abbott, which failed 61-39.
Mr Turnbull also addressed concerns on the government’s metadata laws, saying they weren’t a “silver bullet”.
“Just because something isn't 100 per cent effective doesn't mean you don't do it,” he said.
